One last Christmas FO to report! This one was done v. last minute (read: started and finished on the same day that I wrapped it up and gave it away). I had to employ my best trick for last minute knitting: casually knitting in front of the person it is intended for.

The Specs:
-Pattern: London Beanie, by Mark Thrailkill, modified a bit.
-Yarn: Rowan Magpie Aran, about 50g for entire hat.
-Needles: Size 7 circs.
-Started and finished on December 23.
-For: Ross for Christmas.

Notes: I forgot my size 7 dpns, so I had to knit the last crown decreases on an assortment of Boye interchangeable tips. This worked surprisingly well. Also, this would have been a great stashbusting gift if I didn't have enough of the two colors remaining to make 3 more hats.

Mods to the pattern: I changed the stripes. I changed the decreases for the crown. I wonder if this means that the hat has dual citizenship?

Woss in all his splendidness. Sorry ladies, he's taken.

Posted by Elli at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well, we're back home again! Christmas was celebrated with my family in Seattle this year. Actually, we were in Sammamish, but have you ever heard of Sammamish? Didn't think so. But I digress...remember how I was afraid my Mum's sweater wouldn't fit?

It fits! And so does Pop's vest. I think we can safely call this a Christmas knitting success.

And in case you haven't had enough of Christmas yet, here's my entry for Carola's Christmas Excrescences Contest:

There is a cul-de-sac down the street from my parent's house that goes a bit overboard for Christmas every year. Each house has a theme and, in addition to lots of lights, has big painted cutouts that tie in with the theme. Here they are in the order you drive through:

The Grinch House
The Stocking House
The Polar Express House
The Christmas Carousel House
The Nativity House
The Candy Cane House

My pick for the contest?

The Nutcracker House (between the Stocking and Polar Express houses). The front yard showcases three towering nutcrackers with moving parts (one drums, one opens and closes its mouth and one has a working fire hose that squirts into a pond). The finishing touch? Custom red and green neon lights trimming the whole house.

Yikes.

Posted by Elli at 9:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Well, Christmas provided with me with such a huge heap of blog-fodder that I froze up for a while there. That and vacation makes me lazy. So I guess I'll just jump back in and start where I left off. I finished Lou's socks! That was back on (counting on fingers...) er, December 20.

The Specs:
-Pattern: Priscilla's Dream Socks by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, from Interweave Knits, Fall 2000 (also in the subscriber-only portion of their website)
-Size: Men's small (80 sts)
-Yarn: Steinbach Wolle Deo Socke Antibakterielle (tee-hee)
-Skeins: Nearly 2 skeins @ 50g each
-Needles: size 1 and 2 bamboo dpns
-Start to finish: Early July - December 20. (severe plan-aheadage combined with last minute knit-panic)
-For: Lou for his birthday/Christmas

Notes: This is the only sock pattern I've ever used. It's a versatile pattern as it has a nice range of sizes for many gauges. I also really like the PGR short row heel. However, I think that after this pair (and the still unfinished octo-socks) I'm ready to move on and try another pattern. Maybe something with some cables? Maybe something toe up? Any recommendations? My only requirement is that it has to fit large feet. Nobody in my family has smaller than size 10 feet.

Final Verdict: Cozy socks all around!

P.S. Thunk has made some improvements around the blog over the last couple of days including (but not limited to) getting rid of that weird gap below the Categories button and making me a Finished Objects page. Yay!

Posted by Elli at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm back! The cruise was fab...we had a wonderfully relaxing week with Thunky's family. I had such a great time doing other things that I didn't finish Trellis until the last full day on the boat. But I got it done!

The Specs:
-Pattern: Trellis, by Britta Stolfus Rueschhoff from Knitty
-Size: 12 months
-Yarn: Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Aran in color Tinsel, substituted for Rowan All Seasons Cotton
-Skeins: 4 and a bit @ 50g each
-Needles: size 7 bamboo
-Start to finish: December 5 - December 16
-For: Baby O. for Christmas

Notes: I loved knitting this pattern. The cables are fun, it knits up super-quick, and it's cute, cute, cute! The only problem I encountered was the swatching issue, but it turned out to be just fine. I didn't block the sweater much widthwise and we just rolled up the sleeves. The added bonus is that she’ll be able to wear it for longer. I rushed a bit to finish it up so the cables and the finishing aren't as tidy as I'd like, but I don't think the baby will care at all.

Final Verdict: Yay! It's a winner!

Here's the adorable nearly-naked baby action shot.

Stay tuned for more on the cruise, Thunk’s amazing knitting Grandma Betty, and Lou’s Christmas socks!

Posted by Elli at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Just a quick post to let everybody know that I'll be MIA for the next week or so. We're off to Mexico for a week on a cruise ship with Thunky's family (nice Christmas gift, eh?).

Trellis is coming along nicely. Hopefully I'll have some nice sunny FO pics to show off when I get back!

Posted by Elli at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I started in on O's Trellis this week. So far I've got the back finished.

The goal was to come up with a sweater to fit a 6-9 month old baby. I decided to follow the directions for the 12 month size because a) the yarn I'm using (Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Aran) has a slightly smaller gauge than the required yarn, and b) I'm a tight knitter. Anyway, I figured that this would produce something in the 6-9 month size range.

Oh, and another thing. This is one of those patterns that gives you the gauge over the pattern stitch. So in order to find out if I was getting gauge I either had to a) do a patterned swatch or b) just cast on for the whole thing and hope that things worked out.

I cast on for the entire back in the 12 month size. After I got a couple inches in, things were looking pretty hugely gigantic. So I cast on for the 6 month size and worked an entire pattern repeat before I noticed that things were looking way too small. So I picked up the 12 month size again. After I'd worked a bit more I noticed that the cables were drawing the stitches in nicely and things were looking spot on for a 9 month size. So I happily finished the back and blocked it. Guess what size it is now? Yup. 12 months. Exactly. Bah.

Two very large swatches

The moral of the story? Block yer swatches, matey. My solution? I squnched up the back a bit so that it will dry narrower. I figure she can just grow into it. Think it'll work?

Posted by Elli at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

For Christmas I would like some natural lighting please. [actual color]

The Specs:
-Pattern:Laurent by Sharon Peake from Rowan Vintage Knits
-Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style in Nutmeg, substituted for Rowan Yorkshire Tweed DK
-Skeins: 11 1/5 @ 50g each
-Needles: size 7 bamboo and size 8 birch for the edging
-Start to finish: November 9 - December 4
-For: My Mum (Christmas)

Sizing: I'm note entirely sure about the sizing. I made the third size (36" bust) as this is the size Mum claims to be, and didn't go down a size as she generally wears things looser than I do. According to the diagrams, that size has 3 inches of ease (is this a lot?). I think it came out pretty close to the 39" measurement, but when I tried it on last night it looked suspiciously large on me. Granted, I don't have a 36" bust, but I do have broader shoulders than Mum. I guess I'll just have to wait until she puts the thing on. Now I'm a little nervous.

Other details: At Mum's request, I left off the intarsia flowers, and the belt. I wet blocked it before sewing up. I thought I did a decent job of sewing up at the time, but it looks a little sloppy to me in the photo. It seems that vast expanses of stockinette are not that forgiving.

Final Verdict: Not the quickest or most exciting knit. I guess the jury is out on this one until Mum tries it on.

**Update**

It fits!

Posted by Elli at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Well, so far things are looking good for the Elliphantom Christmas Countdown. Yesterday I conquered the never-ending sleeves. Not much to report there...I managed to knit them straight through without any mistakes. This could mean one of two things 1) It is a Christmas Miracle (hopefully the first of many) or 2) I just haven't found the fatal error yet.

At this point I consider it a minor Christmas Miracle that anyone keeps coming back to look at more pictures of brown stockinette. To shake things up a bit, and to ensure that I still have a readership in the New Year, I've thrown in my new shoes for interest. Everybody likes shoes.

(Since when have I been knitting an orange sweater? Oh well, at least the shoe color is correct.)

So here's the plan. Tonight I will block the sleeves and the back of Laurent. We're talking a good wet blocking...none of this Rowan "pin and iron with a damp cloth" nonsense. Also, I need to buy buttons (I always forget about that part) as it might be a good idea to have them on hand when I knit the buttonholes. Saturday I'll knit the button bands and collar, and then block the fronts. Hopefully, with the help of dry winter weather and my great big fan, things will be ready to sew up on Sunday. Hooray! The end is in sight.

The only thing that can thwart me now is that package from Elann with the yarn for Trellis. Heaven help me to be steadfast and true.

Posted by Elli at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)